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A fresh start

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Overview

Battered by decades of war, poverty and a queasy political situation, the challenges facing Afghanistan are immense. Fortunately, assistance is pouring in from all over the globe.

In 1993, the Chinese government closed its embassy in the capital city of Kabul for security reasons and withdrew its entire staff in the process. Following the fall of the Taliban, reconstruction of the embassy building began in 2002. It had been severely damaged by bullets, bombs, missiles and fire.

The Situation
With the intensification of civil war in Afghanistan and for the sake of safety, China withdrew all its staff and diplomats of the Chinese Embassy in Kabul in February 1993. As a result, normal contacts between the two countries were suspended.

Political contacts resumed in December 2001, and China soon after pledged emergent material aid and cash to Afghanistan. A major symbolic element included the re-opening of the Chinese Embassy in Kabul.

The Grundfos Solution
13 Grundfos pumps are incorporated into the new embassy complex. They are used in the water supply, fire fighting, water treatment and irrigation. Grundfos CR pumps are the most populous, however receive fine company in the form of a Hydro 2000 booster system, an SP pump and an AP pump. The SP is used to pump up the underground water, as the city’s water supply system is inoperable.

Johnson Gu, service supervisor of Grundfos China, spent almost one month in Afghanistan at the end of 2002 commissioning all the systems and control panels. He furthermore provided specialised service training to the local maintenance staff.

The Outcome
The Chinese embassy was reopened in February 2003, at a ceremony featuring senior representatives from both the Chinese and Afghan government. The reopening of the embassy shows that China firmly supports the Afghan interim government, is fully confident of the peace and stability in Afghanistan, and will “actively and comprehensively” participate in the country’s reconstruction, according to Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Chinese embassy staff was very satisfied with Grundfos’ service dedication to the project. Grundfos is furthermore proud to have had the opportunity to participate in this socially beneficial project.